Ordinary to Muggle-Born
by Floo-17
Summary: While visiting London, a young American woman's magical powers come to the surface. As a result, she discovers the Magical World she read about in the "Harry Potter" series is actually real.
1. Chapter 1

On an unusually hot mid-August afternoon, Harry sat on a bench that was one of many on Lambeth Bridge, over the River Thames. He was scanning through that day's "Daily Prophet" concealed in an old copy of "The Daily Mail", one he kept handy just for that purpose. There were many Londoners and tourists admiring the view of the city swarming around that bench, but he wasn't worried about anyone seeing the moving photographs in the newspaper from over his shoulder. Big Ben was close enough for everyone to be admiring (and to be taking pictures of that clock that wasn't a part of their daily lives.)

The bench faced out toward the water, where Albus and Lily were watching some ducks below on the water and eating their ice cream cones from their favorite Muggle ice cream shop. He knew they were slurping loudly in between their conversation about the ducks, but the chatter from the crowd around him and the obnoxiously loud phone conversation at the other end of the bench drowned it out.

"WE WILL… TRY TO COME BY… FOR A VISIT… BEFORE THE START… OF TERM!" Ron yelled into a flip-style cell phone from at least a decade ago, not noticing the concerned stares from Rose and Hugo and the glances from a few of the Muggles in his close vicinity that ranged from bewildered gazes to downright disgusted gawking.

"Ron!" hissed Harry, not wanting Ron's use of the telephone (or lack thereof) to draw attention to them and the children. They were trying to blend into the Muggle street and his yelling into the phone was not helping that. "Shut it!"

Ron just reached his arm behind himself and waved his hand, as if swatting at a pesky fly. "I… HAVE TO GO! MY… CALL IS SLIPPING!" He spoke the last few words so fast, they probably sounded slurred together to the person on the other end of the line, but he snapped the phone closed before they could get a word in edgewise.

"Dad, it's "my call is dropping", not "my call is slipping" ", said Rose, with a slight air of arrogance. "Seriously, you're going to get us caught by the Muggles."

"Stop sounding like your mother," said Ron, glancing at Harry with a smirk, who felt that same déjà vu of Hermione. At that moment, Rose had sounded just like her mother schooling Ron on the proper incantation of the Levitation Charm back in their first year at Hogwarts.

"But seriously, why can't Hermione's parents just use owls, like us? This… telephone thing is just ridiculous! We send them owls, but instead of sending back their replies, they call this thing," He said, thrusting the phone in Harry's direction.

"It makes sense if you grew up with them. I understand them, Hermione understands them, and Rose and Hugo understand them," Said Harry, still reading his newspaper.

"Pfft!" said Ron, looking out into distance at the view. "You think Hermione, Mum, and Ginny are done with James yet?"

"I don't know," Said Harry. "You wanna make our way to The Leaky Cauldron and see if we meet them?"

"All right," said Ron, putting his cellular phone in his pocket and starting to stand up.

"Why couldn't we have gone to Diagon Alley with James and Mummy?" said Lily while she gathered up her stuff.

"It was a special trip this time, love," He said. "This is James' first time getting things for Hogwarts.

"Mum and grandma Weasley wanted to make it a special day, just for them."

Lily frowned a bit, once again disappointed by the reminder of how far off her trip to Hogwarts was. She was only six, but had visited the school countless times already and was excited about her time there.

"You'll get your own special shopping day when your time comes, dear," He said, taking her hand.

He leaned down to her ear and whispered, "And don't worry: it's not that long off," He kissed her cheek and returned the smile she gave him.

The six of them started making their way off the bridge, Ron still complaining about phones to his children (who were mostly ignoring him and making faces to their cousins, who were walking with their father in front of them on the sidewalk.) Harry walked casually, making sure his wand was still tucked in the little secret pocket sewn into his jeans pocket by Ginny and making sure no unneeded attention was being drawn to them. He and his friends had become quite adept at blending into the Muggle world, but he still felt the need to always be on the lookout. Ever since Rita Skeeter (J.K. Rowling to the Muggles) had okayed movies to be made based on the "fantasy" book series she wrote after the end of the second war, the trio and their families were sometimes approached as "look-alikes" to the movie characters, wanting autographs, pictures taken with them, and other crazy fan requests. They usually played along, but never showed any indications that they were, in fact, magical. To those harmless crazed fans, his story was a fantastic book series: to him, those books reflected his life.

Suddenly, Harry felt Albus tug on his arm. "Dad, what's that guy doing?"

Harry looked out to where his son was pointing. He was pointing to a man on the nearby Westminster Bridge, standing on the retaining wall, looking down into the water, and drawing a crowd behind him.

"Ron…" said Harry quietly, trying to remain calm for the children.

Ron was still ranting about his in-laws' inability to embrace the use of owls and didn't hear Harry.

"Ron!" said Harry a little more loudly and urgently.

"What?"

Harry pointed at the man on the next bridge.

Ron's eyes widened. "What do we do, Harry?"

Harry naturally wanted to do something to help, but that would risk being exposed as a wizard. No matter how quietly he said a spell or muttered an incantation, there was risk of a nearby Muggle hearing him or seeing him secretly use his wand. But he also didn't want his children, or his niece and nephew to see a man commit suicide either.

While he was trying to sort out his options as quickly as possible, he heard screams from around him and saw a mass falling to the water. Both he and Ron brought their children's faces into their bodies, so the 6 and 8 year olds wouldn't see. The two of them continued to watch as the man splashed into the river.

But to everyone's astonishment, the man only created a few ripples as his feet hit the water. He bounded straight back to where he started from, as if a trampoline at been at the water's surface. He ended up back right where he started, standing on the edge of the wall, shocked being an understatement. Just a few seconds later, the man fell backward, fainting and caught by a group of people behind him.

As the attention of the Muggles on Lambeth Bridge focused on what was happening on the next bridge over, Harry and Ron turned to face each other. "Was that you?" asked Ron, bewildered that Harry was able to do magic without touching his wand, since his hands were covering Albus and Lily's eyes.

"No. You?" said Harry.

"Nope. I tried sliding my wand down my sleeve into my hand, but couldn't."

"There's another wizard around," muttered Harry, pulling Albus and Lily along with him as he ran in the direction they just came from.

* * *

Abigail Holland (or Abbey, as her friends called her) was enjoying her second day in London. She had turned 25 a couple of weeks prior, and her uncle had so graciously paid for her to take a trip as a birthday/ college graduation present. She needed a break from her every day routine, and a trip to a foreign place that she had been captivated by most of her life was a nice change, never having been out of the United States before. Sitting among the locals and among the charming architecture gave her perspective. She was constantly learning more about the culture and the history of London and that was doing wonders on her spirit.

After a day of being a tourist, Abbey decided to have a low key day. She had spent a couple hours wandering the streets near the river, eating lunch at a café and browsing some shops. Eventually she settled underneath a shady tree near the Westminster Bridge, a refuge from the midday heat and to enjoy a spectacular view of the city and the river. There were a few wrought iron benches strategically placed along with path, each placed in between two trees, but farther out to give easy access from the path. After looking at them, Abbey decided the grass and a tree trunk would be more comfortable and settled there.

In her messenger bag, Abbey had brought her favorite book, her journal, her iPod, and some stationery with her on her outing. Her best friend back home, Gwendolyn, had given her the cherry blossom stationery set the night before her flight to London and made her promise to write letters during the 3 weeks they were to be apart. She had only been gone about 2 days, but she felt she had seen so much and just had to share it with Gwendolyn.

Abbey had gotten all her belongings situated around her and was about to start her letter. Her bag was behind her as a backrest, and her journal was resting on her knee as a writing table. Her book would have made an uncomfortable, chunky lump in her bag, so one of her most prized possessions laid on the grass, with a couple of sheets of the stationery between it and the grass as protection. At first, she was terrified about possibly staining her book, but decided this was better than using it as a writing surface.

But she didn't get the chance to even start her letter. The commotion on the Westminster bridge distracted her enough to look up so she could see what all the hullabaloo was about. Her stomach dropped and her eyes widened as she saw a man teetering on the edge of the wall that was there to prevent people from accidentally walking off the bridge (but unable from doing it on purpose.) The walkers and joggers on the path had stopped and started to gather, watching to see what was going to happen next. Abbey wanted to look away from the bridge: just pack her stuff that was going to give her a quiet afternoon and get away from this uneasy situation. But it was like driving by a car crash: she wanted to watch, despite the sick feeling the situation gave her.

Abbey didn't join in on the collective gasp of the group around her, she was so shocked. The man was a blur as he fell and of all the thoughts that could have run through her mind at that moment, she imagined the man not landing in the water, but on those trampolines that were in the old cartoons, where silly firemen were trying to catch someone falling and ending up where he started from, as if this whole scene was just a crazy stunt. As she was trying to put that insensitive thought out of her head, it happened. The man bounced off the water as if it were rubber and gracefully landed back at the top of the bridge.

The on-lookers surrounding her whooped, hollered, and applauded the assumed acrobatic stunt they just witnessed. Abbey, on the other hand, couldn't believe what she just saw. It didn't make sense! Physics shouldn't have allowed that to happen! How did something she imagined just unfold in front of her, as if she had control over it? As the crowd dispersed, Abbey remained fixed on the spot. The evidence showed that she caused that man to bounce back up, but logic told her she was nuts. She stayed in that spot, staring at the bridge even after the man had fainted and was taken away by authorities, her jaw dropped and hung open until she was snapped out of her trance by a hand gently resting on her forearm.


	2. Chapter 2

When Harry saw that he brought the woman back to earth, he smiled at her. "Are you alright, miss?"

Abbey turned and saw a concerned man looking at her face. He was only a few inches taller than herself, with black hair that wasn't neatly combed, moss-green eyes, and oval glasses. A sudden gust of wind shifted a piece of hair over his left eye for a split second, and she could've sworn she saw a faint scar shaped like a lightning bolt.

She shrugged off the fact that she just might have seen Harry Potter's iconic scar as a result of shock from just seeing what that man did on the bridge. "Yes, I'm fine," She said quietly, trying to gather herself.

"You saw that man on Westminster bridge, didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"No." she said, quickly, not wanting to connect herself to this strange happening. "I was watching a boat on the river."

Harry was almost positive that she was hiding something. "There weren't any boats nearby," he said.

"So, you stopped him from landing in the water, then?" piped up Ron, thinking she didn't realize him and Harry were wizards and therefore, not admitting that she did the magic to save the man.

Abbey looked a small distance behind the black-haired man and saw a tall, lanky red-haired man with 4 children standing around him, looking uncertainly at her. His hair was cut quite short and even from the considerable distance he and the children were from her, she could see freckles liberally sprinkled among the man's nose and cheekbones.

Oh, a Ron Weasley look-alike with a Harry Potter look-alike. How fitting, Abbey thought sarcastically in her head. "Of course not," said Abbey, turning away quickly from the two men to go back to her spot under the tree a few yards away to gather her stuff. "There must have been something in the water to make him go back up. It's not possible that the water turned into some rubberized material to rebound him back up. For Pete's sake, how could I have been involved in that?"

Harry followed Abbey as she walked quickly to a tree where some books and papers were on the ground. As he approached, he saw a thick, bright orange book with a red heading. While she tapped the blank papers together into one pile and sandwiched it between the pages in a hot pink, hard bound journal, he picked up the book and looked at the cover. It was a brand new American copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

"Came to London to read your new "Harry Potter" book?" he said, with a smirk on his face as Abbey snatched the book from his hands.

"It's not a new book," she said, almost sounding offended. "I've had that book since the day after the story was released in the United States. I'm quite a fan of the series, so I take care of my books."

Harry looked back at Ron, who gave a nod, as if approving something Harry had said. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter," he said, holding his hand out to shake with Abbey's.

But instead of politely shaking his hand, which was normally what she did in introductory situations, Abbey laughed. "Staying in character…" she said, assuming they were a Potter performance troupe or something. "Nice touch!"

"And that's my friend, Ron, and our children, Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily," Said Harry. He leaned closer to whisper to Abbey. "You can tell us that you used a spell to stop that man from completing his suicide. We would have, but there were so many Muggles on Lambeth Bridge with us, we couldn't risk revealing ourselves."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" she said. "I get that you're staying in your characters that are obviously a part some performance. And I think it's great that you're using your likenesses to the characters to keep such a cultural icon alive, but there is no such thing as magic! I had nothing to do with that miracle that saved that man's life and I think it is awful and insensitive to pretend that you were going to use "magic-" she said the last word with a nasally, mocking voice and used air quotes- "to help him. I could not have done anything about it because magic isn't real!" Abbey hoisted the strap to her bag higher up her shoulder and started to storm off down the path.

She didn't get too far when she felt someone pulling on her bag. The force was so strong, the thick strap snapped quickly. When she turned around to confront the person, no one was there. She saw the two men and the kids standing where she left them, but "Harry" was holding her bag with a slight smile on his face. Not believing what she was seeing, she walked back.

"So, you're saying J.K. Rowling wrote a true story?" asked Abbey, still somewhat confrontational. She couldn't believe that this was true.

Harry nodded. "That's her Muggle name. We know her as Rita Skeeter, the journalist who left the Wizarding World to tell our story to the Muggle world."

Abbey remembered recently seeing one of those head canon meme images on the internet, saying that J.K. Rowling was actually Rita Skeeter. She knew she was crazy for accepting what this man was saying, but after that whole charade with her bag, how could she not? What else could explain how he got a hold of her bag from over 20 feet away?

She reached to take her bag from Harry. "I'm Abbey. Abbey Holland," she said, holding her hand out.

Harry smiled and shook her hand back. "Pleasure," he said, holding her bag out to her.

"Shouldn't you have gotten an owl from the Ministry about doing magic in front of a Muggle?" she asked, putting her bag back on her shoulder.

"Why would that happen?"

"Because I'm a Muggle?" she said. "And you used magic to get my bag off my shoulder?"

"You're a Muggle? Is that why you were saying you didn't make that man bounce back up to the bridge?"

"Yeah!" said Abbey. "Why else would I deny my involvement?"

"We thought you didn't realize who we were, and figured we were Muggles, so you weren't going to say what you did." Said Harry.

Abbey paused. "I didn't want to sound crazy," she whispered. "Most people would think I'm not right in the head if I told them that I pretty much believed I made a man bounce off of water."

Ron and the children moved closer and Harry's demeanor got more serious. "Go on," said Harry. "What happened, exactly?"

"When I saw the man jump, I thought of him landing on a trampoline, safe and sound, like in those old black-and-white cartoons. All of a sudden, it happened right in front of my eyes, just as I had imagined it," she said, sounding embarrassed.

All 6 sets of eyes widened. "Only one way to see if you're really a witch," said Harry, taking his own wand out of his pocket and handing it to Abbey. "Give it a wave."

At first, she just stared at what looked like an intricately carved twig, not taking it. She was still in disbelief at what was going on. First, she witnessed (and may have caused) a magical occurrence that logically shouldn't have happened. Second, she was starting to believe this stranger that claimed he was the real life basis of a fictional character. And third, she was considering taking this stick and "doing a spell" with it. She felt foolish considering this idea of waving a stick that was probably recently plucked from a tree, but the inner most depths of her Harry Potter enthusiasm had to see for herself if she could really do something magical with it.

So she took Harry's wand and nervously gave it a wave, trying to recreate techniques she saw in the book-based movies. Nothing happened and she could see the disappointed looks on their faces. She felt just as disappointed that even after she her thoughts had saved a man from killing himself, she couldn't do anything with a magic wand. Desperate to see herself do something exciting, she pointed Harry's wand at Ron and said the first non-dangerous spell that came to mind. "Expelliarmus!" she said.

Ron's face contorted in shock and confusion as his wand shot out of his shirt sleeve and hurdled toward Abbey. Even in her state of disbelief, she caught it.

The children clapped for her, smiling at her job well done. Her eyes remained wide as she handed the wands back to their owners, still not believing what she just did.

"This is why I haven't gotten an owl from the Ministry of Magic. I didn't do magic in front of a Muggle." Said Harry.


	3. Chapter 3

Abbey started to question herself and her judgment as she started to walk away with these two strange men and 4 children. The two older children had talked their fathers into letting this "wicked American" (the good and British meaning of "wicked", judging by the kids' wide, sparkling eyes and grins of excitement after watching her Disarm Ron) over to the Potter's for supper some time during her stay in London. She was interested in learning more about the magical world and how much more from her favorite book series was actually true. She wanted to learn more about the history of the magical community and if they had the information, she could maybe learn about the Wizarding community in the States. She had also grown up admiring and relating to Hermione Granger and she was excited to meet the person behind a character she loved. Keeping the excitement of her inner fangirling self was feeling harder and harder to keep tame as she walked the streets of London with the characters she had shared her childhood with. Convincing herself into believing that going with strangers in a foreign city was okay was easier than that task probably should have been.

Harry and Ron had decided to bring Abbey with them to Diagon Alley to meet up with their families, with the idea that if she could see The Leaky Cauldron, then she really was magical. Ron was especially skeptical about her abilities, defending that skepticism with the fact that she was 25 and had never shown any inclination that she had powers of any kind until now.

"Most of us end up showing some kind of magic when we are very young," said Ron. "I've never heard of magic coming to the surface 25 years later. Are you sure your parents were magical? Maybe Muggle-Born?"

"I think they would have told me," said Abbey, with a slight tone of sarcasm. "The only thing I have ever seen in my home that resembles a magic wand is a pen that looks like one. A novelty toy I bought years ago."

"A Muggle wouldn't have been able to Disarm you, Ron. There is something there," said Harry. "I agree that her situation is rare, but there is no denying that she was able to use my wand. If she didn't have powers, she might as well have plucked a twig from a tree and waved it around."

Instead of having a debate that would probably be repeated at The Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ron decided small talk was the way to go until they could get the opinions of the well-read Hermione and the aged wisdom of Molly Weasley. They took the opportunity to learn more about Abbey: where she was from, what she did, how she was liking London so far (to which her answer was "I was having a grand time. Until I started doing things my brain is telling me I shouldn't and that the background to a book series is real. Now I feel like the whole trip is going downhill.") She talked about what Washington state was like (and realizing how silly the name did sound when Lily started to snicker at a little "washing" a "ton" joke she came up with on the spot.) She talked about her recent college experiences and what she was studying during her time there. "I eventually want to teach middle or high school," she explained.

"High School?" asked Ron.

"Oh," she said, forgetting that she was talking to an English person, and not an American. "Middle school and high school typically is 11 or 12 to 17 or 18 year olds. Middle school stops at roughly 14, and then you go to high school until you're about 18."

"So, like Hogwarts?" asked Ron. "Except in two stages?"

Abbey had never seen it that way before. "Yeah," she said. "But I want to teach English or Social Studies."

Harry and Ron gave her confused looks again, so Abbey explained herself. "In America, English classes study different kinds of literature, and composition. Social Studies encompasses history, psychology, anthropology, and other subjects in the Humanities."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Blimey, we have another Hermione on our hands," he muttered. "When you talk to her, don't get her started on anything like that. You won't be able to get her to stop."

Abbey smiled, at first at Ron teasingly talking down about his wife's passion for academia. Then she realized that she was just compared to one of the people she most admired from the series, which added a bit of a proud brightness to that smile.

Not long after that, the group went around a bend in the road (Abbey wasn't sure what road they were on, for Harry and Ron seemed to know exactly where they were leading the group to.) A little ways ahead, she saw an aged and filthy brick building placed oddly between two modern and sleek skyscrapers. They were mostly glass structures with silver metal frames. Men and women in jackets, slacks, and dress suits seemed to be flooding out of the revolving front doors of the buildings, many of them concentrating on phone calls, others studying the screens on their phones, some stuffing in a paper-wrapped fast food lunch as they pounded the pavement in a hurried fashion, and a few actually in a face-to-face conversation. They all scrambled among each other, and Abbey noticed that strangely, even though they were seeming busy and distracted, no one paid any mind to the out-of-place brick building.

_As if they couldn't see it_, thought Abbey.

"That's The Leaky Cauldron!" she said, stopping in her tracks and staring wide-eyed at the dirt-caked pub.

Lily and Hugo had been holding her hands the past block or so, seeming quite attached to her already, and they pulled her along in her amazed stupor, excited that their new friend was able to see the pub. As they got closer, Abbey could see a wrought iron silhouette of a rotund witch stirring a cauldron half her size slightly swinging in the breeze on the side of the building. The sign was quite reminiscent of the sign in the movie version. Before Abbey knew what happened, they were all in the middle of the swarm of business people. She stared at the pub in amazement and the others stood with her watching the excited sparkle in her eyes, the slight smile across her lips, and the child-like wonder she was emitting. Time stood still for Abbey, while for all those bustling paper-pushers their fast-paced lives continued to go on.

"Let's go!" said Lily, tugging on Abbey's hand to bring her back to reality.

Abbey was literally pulled into a new world. The Leaky Cauldron would probably not be very impressive to many, but Abbey thought it was wonderful and charming. The room wasn't well lit, except for an open doorway leading to a back courtyard and candle stubs on the tables and along the bar. Despite someone sweeping in a far corner, the uneven and unfinished wood floor was dusty. Many of the customers were in Muggle clothing. The outfits seemed to be more eclectic the older the person appeared to be. Abbey had to suppress a snicker at a couple of the outfits, her favorites being a witch in a long, frilly, and sparkly lime green formal gown with a men's purple and white paisley neck tie around her forehead, and her male drinking partner in a pair of what appeared to be women's black leggings with silver jewel embellishments on the bottom hem with a white vest that appeared to be from a 3-piece suit as a top. A few witches and wizards were in traditional robes and hats, sipping their drinks and engrossed in their conversations. She had been so engrossed in taking in all the sights of the pub that she didn't notice the table in the far back corner. When Rose brought her back to earth by tapping her arm and pointing to the table when she got her attention, Abbey saw a red head with several gray strands visible in the bun, a bushy brown-haired head, a woman with straight dirty-blonde hair, and a small head of black hair sitting among several brown paper-wrapped packages and a small cage with a toad perched on top of one of the stacks.

Abbey followed the group to that back table, feeling shy about meeting more new people, even though she felt she already knew most of them from reading about them in the books and seeing them in the movies. Hermione, Molly Weasley, James and the blonde noticed immediately that there was a new member to the group approaching their table. The adults nodded politely in greeting at Abbey while James just stared at her.

"This is Abbey," said Harry. "We met her near Westminster Bridge."

The 3 women at the table stood up to shake hands and introduce themselves. But Abbey stopped Mrs. Weasley from introducing herself. "You guys don't need to tell me who you are. I know who all of you are. You're Mrs. Weasley-" Abbey nodded in the direction of the older of the three. "You are Hermione-" she said, indicating the younger woman with shoulder-length fluffy dark brown hair and deep, wide brown eyes with a nod. She pointed to the boy. "And you're James. But I'm not sure about you," she said, nodding to the woman closer to her age who resembled Ron, right down to the freckles peppering her cheeks and nose. "Are you Ginny?"

"Yes. Ginny Potter," said the woman.

"But you're supposed to have red hair!" said Abbey, completely surprised and thrown off. She had looked forward to wowing them by being able to identify them without formal introductions.

"She's a series fan, isn't she?" Ginny asked her brother and her husband, almost sounding amused as if this confusion happened to her before.

"She has kept a 7 year old book in such good condition, I thought she had brought a brand new copy of the seventh book just to read in London," said Harry. "Turns out she's just a fan who brought it with her to read on her trip."

"You aren't the first one to notice this obvious difference," said Ginny. "When Rita Skeeter wrote the books, she saw that I was the only one in the family who wasn't a ginger. She wrote my character to resemble the rest of my family. When the story began to be adapted to the films, the producers and casting directors decided to add an Oedipus-sort of dimension to the character. The girl who portrayed me and the woman who portrayed Lily Potter happened to resemble each other, so they added this unspoken element of Harry being attracted to someone who resembled his mother so much to see what kind of speculation and ideas would sprout among the fans."

"We didn't believe it when Rita okayed that in the casting," said Harry, taking out his wallet. "Ginny looks nothing like my mother."

Harry held out a moving photograph of his parents. The paper was worn around the edges, with creases and tiny rips starting to form from being folded and stored in a wallet. "I think it was a ludicrous idea. We haven't heard anything about that "being attracted to someone who resembles my mother" idea among the internet sites or being widely discussed." Abbey clearly saw that Ginny and the ginger in that photograph looked nothing like each other.

"My best friend has brought up the idea," said Abbey. "But she's only going by the descriptions in the book and the depictions in the movie, so…"

"We don't take it personally," said Ginny. "Changing Book Ginny was a creative choice on Rita's part and going all psychological on Harry's character was a creative choice for the movie people. What can you do about it?"

Abbey smiled, relieved that she hadn't offended anyone.

"I'm glad we know your name so far Abbey, but we don't know why exactly you were brought here," piped in Hermione, trying to get everyone back on track to why bringing this American was brought to them.

The 4 of them looked confused at Abbey, realizing Hermione was right. Harry, Ron, and the children just brought this strange woman into The Leaky Cauldron with them. And she didn't appear to be a witch, either.

"You won't believe what happened," said Ron, in a low voice so only they could hear.

"James, why don't you take the other children out to the courtyard and show them the toad you picked out for Hogwarts," said Ginny, clearly uneasy about what was going on.

"Because I want to hear what happened," said James, not standing up.

"Son, I think it was a demand, not a request," said Harry. "Do as your mother says."

James shot his mother a bit of a pout, but stood up and picked the cage up by it's handle without any verbal protest. His younger brother and sister followed behind.

"Rose and Hugo, go with your cousins," said Hermione. "And don't leave the courtyard, and that includes going into the Alley."

"That also goes for you three," added Harry.

When the children were safely out of earshot, the adults started moving the next table over to connect with the one the ladies were sitting at. When they were settled in their chairs, a blonde woman slightly shorter than Abbey came over. "Drinks?" she asked.

"Hi, Hannah. Pumpkin juice, please," said Harry.

"Butterbeer, with a cinnamon stick," said Ron.

The woman stared at Abbey in an impatient manner, waiting for her order. She suddenly became aware that she had no idea what to order in a wizarding world dining establishment. She was still figuring what everything was in the Muggle eateries!

"Do you like pumpkin pie back home? I've heard some think pumpkin juice tastes similar to pumpkin pie in America," said Harry.

Abbey nodded.

"She'll have a pumpkin juice," said Harry.

Hannah pulled her wand from her apron pocket, pointed it to the shelves behind the bar and gave it a flick. 3 glasses came zooming toward them, including another white porcelain teapot for the 3 that were already there. They all slid across the table, coming to a halt in front of the correct people they belonged to. She also used her wand to guide the empty teapot to a dishpan behind the bar.

"Thanks Hannah," said Harry.

She replaced his wand back into his apron and went back to her position behind the bar, without another word to anyone at the table.

"Was that Hannah, Neville Longbottom's wife?" asked Abbey, excited that she might see Neville while here at The Leaky Cauldron. She had identified with his character, relating to him. She hadn't been the most popular while in school either, but knew she had a small group of loyal friends just like Neville.

"Well, soon-to-be ex-wife," Said Ginny quiet enough so only their table could hear. "You probably noticed she wasn't the most friendly of servers. She's upset that we are still friendly with Neville because she sees that as taking sides, but cannot deny us service…"

"So, what's this thing that happened that we aren't going to believe?" asked Hermione, trying to move the conversation along to its true purpose and pouring herself another cup of tea.

"We were on Lambeth Bridge and a man was about to jump off Westminster Bridge. There were too many Muggles nearby for us to do anything. When he jumped, he bounced off the water back to where he started," said Harry.

The 3 ladies' faces were all contorted in confusion, but they kept listening.

"So, we all went walking around trying to find the nearby wizard or witch who did the spell and found Abbey on a walking path near the shore of the river. We're pretty sure she did it," said Harry.

"I had imagined him landing on a trampoline and landing back up on the bridge. Like old cartoon firefighters use. And it happened. What I imagined happened," explained Abbey.

"But she's a Muggle," said Ron.

"Oh no," said Harry, shaking his head. "After we figured out she most likely did do the magic, we decided that she was trustworthy enough to tell her who we were. I gave her my wand to wave around. If she was magical, she would have emitted sparks from it at the least. But no. Nothing happened until she tried to Disarm Ron. Hermione, she'd give you a run for your money on your first try at Disarming someone. It was a good piece of magic from someone who had never done it before."

Abbey blushed at Harry's compliment, never having taken them well. And then when she had done something just as good (or even better!) than Hermione Granger? That was almost too much for her!

"She's twenty five, and saving that man was the first time she had ever done anything magical. Can that happen?" said Ron.

"It is very rare, but yes, it has happened," said Molly, turning to face Abbey. "Are you sure you've never done anything you can't explain? Like a mean schoolmate getting his comeuppance after pushing you? Something strange happening when you were frightened?"

Abbey shook her head.

"And you're positive your parents didn't have any magical powers, or anyone else in your family?" asked Molly.

Abbey shook her head again, not speaking. She was naturally shy in situations with new people, but adding in the possibility that she was a witch? Shy didn't even begin to describe how she was feeling!

"Mariah Pritchard, that intern that I mentored during my last year in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?" said Hermione, stirring a spoon of sugar into her tea. "Her situation was similar to this. But her parents were magical and they figured she was a Squib. She was 20 years old and made the stack of papers I gave her to file explode all over the room because she was angry that I gave her more work to do at nine o'clock in the evening."

Abbey's eyes widened, imagining that sight.

"And now, she transforms with the best of us. As a matter of fact, I saw her in her office the other day looking for her inkwell and when she couldn't find it,she turned a goblet full of leaking water from the ceiling into an ink bottle," finished Hermione.

"Cool," said Abbey, a cheesy grin spreading across her face. "And I can do stuff like that now?"

"Sounds like it," said Hermione.

"But why hasn't this happened before?" asked Abbey. "Your intern did magic because she was mad. I wasn't mad when I did what I did."

"Have you ever seen anything like that before?" asked Ginny. "Strong emotions cause our powers to go all over the place, especially when we don't have a wand to contain those powers. That explains why young children have problems controlling their magic."

"I haven't seen anyone attempt suicide," said Abbey.

"That's why," said Ginny, sounding positive in her logic that the strong emotions Abbey felt jarred something to make her powers rise to the surface. "You never saw someone die."

"Well, that's not completely true," said Abbey. "I've seen death. More than what is my fair share, I have to say."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she realized how insensitive that afterthought had been. Sitting among people who had lost a son, a brother, countless friends, and even parents as a result of the Wizarding Wars, and she had to mention witnessing the quiet and peaceful passing away of her relatives as being "unfair." "That came out wrong. I'm sorry," said Abbey quietly, feeling guilty that she offended people she admired.

They all shook their heads, not seeming to be offended or bothered in any way (to Abbey's relief.) "Who?" asked Ron, curiously.

"My grandmothers and my grandfather. My other grandfather died before I was born. My father died when I was twelve, and my mother just a few years ago." said Abbey, explaining herself.

"And how old are you?" asked Molly, looking at Abbey with true sadness on her face.

"25, Mrs. Weasley," said Abbey.

Molly reached across the table and kindly patted Abbey's hand. "So young to have seen so much loss…" she said.

Abbey shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. She always did during these situations. She didn't mind talking about the death of her parents, but when people would mention or insinuate that about how unfair it was for her to be parentless before she was even able to legally drink, she would feel that she didn't deserve that kind of pity. There were people who lost so much more than her that were much younger than her. "I think there are people at this table -and not at this table- who saw just as much loss before they were as old as me."

Her eyes had drifted across the table to Harry, who had put his chair next to Ginny to sit. He flashed her a smile.

Abbey looked down at her goblet of pumpkin juice. The name didn't sound very appetizing to her as she read all the times the trio had drunk it in the books and in the movies, but it was quite tasty and like she was drinking a slice of pumpkin pie. After getting second opinions from the others, it sounded pretty likely that her world was starting to be turned upside down. She was no longer just Abbey Holland: the quiet girl in the back of a class; the quiet but polite neighbor; the loyal and hard-worker. She was now special and could do things not everyone was able to do. How was she going to cope with these changes that were all of a sudden thrown into her lap?

Hearing several voices of surprise around her had brought Abbey back to earth and away from her thoughts. She looked up from her drink and saw small, misty rainbows going from cup to cup at the table, ending at the teapot-turned-pot-of-gold in the middle of the table. "Is that me?" asked Abbey, wide-eyed and shocked at what she was seeing.

"You and that magic that has been pent up for 25 years," said Harry, smiling at her.

"That was quite beautiful," said Molly, waving her wand and changing the pot of gold back into the teapot and causing the rainbows to evaporate into the air in puffs of smoke that had all the colors of the rainbow. "But you don't want to draw attention to yourself. Luckily you're here where this kind of thing happens all the time."

"But if this were to happen in the Muggle world… people wouldn't be so understanding and awestruck of a rainbow at a pub table," said Ron. "Random charms, transfigurations, and other spells happen when wizards let their thoughts wander and they don't have anything to contain and control that magic. I think you should get yourself a wand, Abbey."

"My own magic wand?" asked Abbey, both excited and apprehensive at the same time.

"You don't have to do magic, but just a wand to keep with you to channel your energies so you don't have any outbursts," said Ron. "Especially if you choose to stay in the Muggle world."

"Now, Ron, don't rush any decisions on the girl yet," said Molly, standing up and coming to put her arm around Abbey's shoulders. "She just found out that she's magical. Our kind didn't exist to her except in books and movies until this afternoon. I agree that you should get a wand, at the very least to keep your magic under control, but no other decisions need to be made right now, all right?"

Abbey nodded, still not completely taking in this information. She saw what she could do: she could manipulate the elements for her own uses. She made water into a bouncy material back at the River Thames and she created rainbows out of the steam and liquids from the cups at the table.

"Harry, why don't you walk Abbey back to where she is staying?" said Molly. "We'll meet you back home this evening and we'll know that Abbey is safe in her hotel room without any incident. Let all this information sink in and she can consider her options with a clear head in the morning after a good night's rest."

"Good idea, Molly," said Harry, standing up.

As Harry said goodbye to Ron, Hermione, and his family, Abbey said her goodbyes also. She was quiet and mostly smiled. Molly, Hermione, and Ginny reassured her that even with these life-changing events, things would work out. She'd learn to cope with these new abilities and would learn to blend in with the Muggles. Ron reminded her, in his own way due to his emotional range of a teaspoon, that she should be proud of what she did at the River today. She saved a man's life, which was incredible in of itself, but she also discovered another aspect to herself that was literally… magical.

On their walk back to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington and Chelsea, both Harry and Abbey were very quiet. Every couple of blocks, Harry would quietly ask if she was all right, to which she could only muster a nod. She still hadn't sorted out her feelings, even when they had stopped at the front steps. After they had awkwardly stood there for a few minutes, Harry was the first to speak up. "I know this is a lot to hear in one day. As you know, I understand exactly what you are feeling."

Abbey looked up from the ground and at Harry. It hadn't crossed her mind that she was going through what Harry had when he found out he was a wizard.

"You have a lot to think about, but also decisions to make. Tomorrow, we would like to take you to get your own wand. You can change your currency at Gringotts and everything if we go with you. And, if you are comfortable since you just met us and all, Ginny and I would like you to stay at our place for the rest of your trip. You know, to help you get on your magical feet, acclimate you to the Wizarding World, teach you a few things to take back to the U.S., and get you in touch with the magical community back home… What do you think, Abbey?" said Harry.

Against her better judgment for the umpteenth time that day, she nodded. Her practical side knew she needed some lessons and a basic understanding of being able to control her abilities. She wouldn't show it, but she was also excited that Harry Potter invited her to be a houseguest and that the trio, their families, and their world existed in real life!

"When is check out?" said Harry.

"11am," said Abbey.

"So, I'll be in the lobby at 11am and we'll go get you set up for the magical world," said Harry, giving her a reassuring smile.

Abbey returned the smile. "I know it sounds strange and I don't mean to sound like a creep, but could I give you a hug? I just… I just feel so happy at finding out you all really exist, scared at what's going to happen to me, and amazed at what I can do…"

"After what we've all been through this afternoon, we can't not be friends. No matter what you decide to do and even when you go home, I'm confident that we are all going to call you a friend. Besides, you need us. And not needing your favorite literary characters: you need some witches and wizards to take care of you right now." said Harry, giving Abbey a comforting hug. "Sleep well. Tomorrow is going to be quite the adventure, Abbey."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Abbey slowly started waking up, the mid-morning sun brightly coming through the sheer curtains on her hotel room window. She had a moment of uneasiness, realizing that she hadn't pulled the regular curtains and anyone in the building across the street around the 4th floor could have watched her sleep. That feeling passed as her mind cleared from the just-awake cloudiness and she realized she was still in the clothes she wore yesterday while she was out and about in the city. She had worn jean shorts yesterday, and just spent the night sleeping on that button. She started to feel that pain and sat up just enough to slide the waistband of her shorts down a little bit. Never having been a morning person, she fluffed her pillow and lay back down for a few minutes.

_What a dream last night_, thought Abbey as she reached for the nightstand to check her cell phone. When she landed at Heathrow, she had changed her clock to reflect local time, and it was three minutes after nine in the morning. _Meeting Harry Potter_…, thought Abbey with a small smile as she lay back down. _Being in London –and the land of Harry Potter- must be doing wonders on my imagination. It felt so real. I've never had such strong feelings in a dream before. _Abbey usually had the power to realize that she was dreaming in her dreams and woke up from them knowing they weren't real, but this dream was different.

Abbey continued to lie in bed, retracing her steps in her mind because she couldn't honestly say what she did yesterday: it was a blur in her mind and she couldn't remember much of her day very clearly. She had planned to just walk around the city with no itinerary: if she saw something interesting, she would stop and explore. She remembered ending up at a public sitting area with trees after lunch, deciding the area was a nice environment to write a letter home to Gwendolyn. She decided that she had dozed off (since she remembered getting situated under a tall, shady tree,) and then had her dream about meeting Harry, Ron, and their children. "Yeah," she said out loud, trying to justify why she had memories of meeting fictional characters. "I fell asleep. I'm still trying to get used to the time difference and took a nap."

After wracking her half-asleep brain to decide why she couldn't remember walking back to her hotel (other than being escorted by Harry Potter), Abbey tossed her body to rest on her other side. She was frustrated that her brain wasn't awake enough to make sense of all the thoughts going through her mind. She all of a sudden didn't feel sleepy anymore when she saw her dresser. In fact, she almost felt ill.

Standing on the top of her dresser like a greeting card was the crayon drawing of her disarming Ron that Lily had given her right before she and Harry left The Leaky Cauldron. Just as she remembered it, she could see the depiction of Ron, with a circle for a mouth (to express the shock he had) and hair colored in with a bright red crayon, and the purple hearts colored in around "To: Abee". Abbey had been surprised that a 6 year old had drawn an event with a point-of-view other than her own and the adorable way Lily had misspelled her name. Next to the picture was the ordinary stick from the courtyard that Rose had presented her "to practice with before she went to Ollivander's."

"It wasn't a dream," whispered Abbey as she stood up and went over to the dresser. "I met Harry Potter… and I'm magical!" She picked up the drawing and stared at it, knowing this was the proof that this wasn't a dream. She had the actual drawing that Harry's daughter gave her, and the pretend wand that Ron's daughter had given her.

She picked up the stick after she put the drawing back down. She examined it, not sure what she was looking for. She knew it was just an ordinary stick that the children had found in the courtyard of The Leaky Cauldron while she and their parents were discussing the day's events. To keep her word to the 8 year old girl, she "practiced" her wand-waving for a few seconds after she closed the curtains to her room (she didn't want anyone see her wave a random stick around!) Before long, the knots of embarrassment and silliness in her stomach started to overwhelm her. As she put the stick back next to the other memento of her adventure yesterday, she saw movement on the bed from the corner of her eye. She whipped around just In time to see the pillows zoom off, only stopping and landing because they hit the wall.

"Woah," said Abbey, quietly. She started to walk to where they were on the floor and remembered that she could do magic.

She also remembered that magic _could_ be done without a wand _and_ the "Accio" spell…

A cheesy grin spread across Abbey's face. She walked as fast as she could to the head of the bed and concentrated on the pile of pillows. "Accio pillows!" she said.

She waited and nothing happened. _Maybe I can only do one at a time_, she thought. "Accio green throw pillow!"

The pillow she was referring to didn't come to her, but flipped over as a result of the spell. Her eyes widened as a result, and the cheesy grin was now downright dorky. The girlish giggle that escaped was as high as the accompanying smile on the Dork Scale.

After all these confirmations that what happened yesterday wasn't a dream, she remembered that she was to meet Harry in the hotel lobby after checking out at 11. That gave her enough time to leisurely shower, and even grab a complimentary hotel snack from the mini-fridge after getting dressed and packed. At the moment, adrenaline was fueling her to the point where she couldn't feel any of the hunger pangs she normal felt not too long after waking up in the morning.

Showering and getting ready was a blur to Abbey. She felt giddy and excited that she was going to be a guest at Harry Potter's house, and all thoughts of what was to come clouded her memory and those 45 minutes of preparing for the day had all been completed on auto-pilot. She had chosen to wear a coral sundress to her first Diagon Alley trip (partially just to feel cute as a confidence boost, but also for the forecasted 37 degree Celsius day.)

When the time came to pack her bags, Abbey's excitement spilled over into the little jig that is the result of those chills going down the spine and spreading throughout the body. Abbey was never sure if this happened to other people as often as it happened to her, but normally these happy little episodes passed with no event. But now that she had magic with no outlet coursing through her veins, that magic decided to show off after being dormant all these years.

The drawers pulled themselves open as if 5 invisible hands attached to angry people had all jerked them open at once. The folded clothes flew across the room to the suitcases sitting on the open bed, much as the bed pillows had done earlier that morning. When those articles of clothing had haphazardly landed in the suitcases, the closet door noisily slid open along the track and her dresses, jackets, and shoes did the same thing as the tees, jeans, socks, and other clothes in the drawers had done. When she checked on the quality of the packing job, she saw that most of her clothes had landed willy-nilly with no sense of organization and without being at least semi-folded. She _did_ notice as she went through and folded and organized the contents of the suitcases that her socks had matched themselves, went in the suitcase's inner pocket, and even zippered themselves in. Her shoes were also paired and lying neatly on the bottom of the largest suitcase, right where they were supposed to go.

After going through all the contents of the suitcases and repacking her clothes neatly by hand, Abbey made it down to the hotel lobby with about ten minutes to spare, according to the large clock on the wall across from the elevator. She looked around the sofas and armchairs in the seating area for Harry, the thought that it had been a dream creeping into her mind once again. She reminded herself that there was still ten minutes until their scheduled meeting time and joined the line for the front desk.

She stood a little too rigid to probably be considered natural, nervous about what was going to be happening later in the day. There was no turning back now: she was checking out of the security of her hotel room to go stay with the man who claimed to be Harry Potter. Even with all the evidence that supported their claim and her now obvious magical abilities, there was still a small piece of logic reminding her that all of this wasn't normal and that she was nuttier than a jar of peanut butter to believe and accept all of this as truth.

But she was brought back to earth at right about 11:00, when it was her turn to approach the front desk of the hotel.

"Good morning, Miss Holland," said the usual morning clerk with the bright and cheery English accent that he gave her the past couple of mornings when she would see if her room was available for another day. When planning her trip, Abbey couldn't pick just one hotel! She had decided to just play each day by ear in terms of lodgings and found herself compelled to stay here because of their great service and friendly atmosphere. "Your room is still available today if you are still interested."

Abbey indicated the luggage by her feet with a nod and slid the key card across the counter. "I am actually checking out this morning," she said.

"I hope everything was to your satisfaction?" he asked with a tone of concern.

"Yes, most definitely!" she blurted out. "I just… um… decided to stay in a different area of the city. You know… to discover the different cultures and stuff." She was proud of the fact that she hadn't actually lied! She had told the honest truth of why she was leaving. She really _was_ going to explore another culture of London… even if _he_ wasn't aware of the culture she was going to be a part of…

"I see," he said, taking the credit card Abbey was holding out to him. "London has a lot to offer to our visitors, and I think you will enjoy yourself."

"I'm positive I will. I imagine myself learning so much during my visit," said Abbey.

The clerk held out a very fancy pen that Abbey wasn't accustomed to seeing yet and a slip of paper to sign. "I'm happy that you enjoyed your time with us."

"I did, thank you," she said, scribbling her loopy, yet legible "Abigail M. Holland" on the designated line.

The two of them swapped the pen and receipt and the credit card with her check-out paperwork. "Thank you very much for the pleasant stay," said Abbey as she stuffed the lot into her purse.

"You are most welcome, Miss Holland," replied the clerk with a kind smile.

Abbey gathered her bags and started to pull her wheeled suitcase behind her. The air-conditioned lobby was causing her exposed skin to break out with goose bumps, so she decided to wait outside for Harry. She chose the bench closest to the entrance of the hotel after she did a quick visual scan of the lobby in case he came in while she had her back turned from the door while she was checking out. After setting her luggage down, she sat down beside it and checked her cell phone. It was only 3 minutes past 11.

She tried to sit as naturally as she could, but still be on a vigilant look-out for Harry. She was worried about sitting there looking too excited, nervous, fidgety, or in some other fashion that would cause passerby to take a second look. She tried to remain calm so her magic didn't cause her luggage to spontaneously open or some other unimaginable occurrence that couldn't be explained away. No more than a few minutes later, she saw a familiar head of untidy black hair coming down the sidewalk.

Trying not to act as excited as she was feeling, Abbey stood up and gave a wave in his direction as he got closer. He appeared not to have seen her and was about to go inside the hotel, but her rapid movements caught his eye. Despite being one of the greatest wizards of the time, he blended in very well with the Muggles in his gray tee shirt, Bermuda-length navy blue shorts, and an aged pair of athletic shoes. He looked extraordinarily… ordinary.

"Sorry I'm late, Abbey. Parking was harder to find than I expected," he said.

Her face contorted in confusion. "Parking?" she asked.

Harry looked at her, unclear of what he said that confused her. "I can't exactly fly my Firebolt Five through London, can I?" he said.

"You have a car?" she asked in the same tone that she had used just prior. "There are other forms of transportation other than flying you can use, right?"

"Well, I am not a fan of Disapparation or Floo Powder. Even after all of these years, I still have trouble with that feeling of leaving my stomach behind. I'll use them if absolutely necessary, but prefer driving, walking, or public transport if I can. We live in London, so Muggle ways of getting around are very accessible." He said, hoisting her duffel bag on his shoulder and picking up her suitcase, leaving her with just her purse.

"I can carry one," said Abbey, knowing her rolling suitcase was probably the heaviest of the two. "I can carry more than my purse."

"I parked only a few blocks away," he said, shaking her head no. "Then we'll park closer to The Leaky Cauldron."

Still baffled by the fact that a wizard owned a car, she readjusted her purse strap on her shoulder and followed Harry, still not comfortable with having him carry all her things. She wondered if he silently put a spell on them because he didn't appear to be struggling under the weight. But he started a conversation with her before she could dwell on the question too much.

"I trust you had a pleasant evening after I dropped you off last night?" he asked.

"Well…," she started.

Harry turned to her, looking concerned.

"I don't remember going to bed," said Abbey. "I woke up this morning, still in my clothes from yesterday. And this morning, I thought yesterday was just a dream, until I saw the drawing and stick from Rose and Lily."

"But you kept your magic under control?"

"For the most part," said Abbey, with a grin.

Harry's concerned look at Abbey turned into one of alarm. "I don't like that grin. What did you do?"

"Nothing bad," said Abbey. "I was playing with the stick that Rose gave me. I wanted to tell her that I had practiced, and my bedding flew off my bed."

Harry looked relieved as he hoisted the tote bag on his shoulder.

"And I almost did a Summoning Charm. The pillow I was referring to flipped over."

"That's actually quite remarkable, since you are inexperienced and wandless," said Harry.

"And when I had a burst of excitement when I was about to pack my things, my drawers and closet flew open, and my clothes went straight into the bags," said Abbey.

"Probably not very neatly," said Harry.

"Oh no," said Abbey. "But my shoes were matched and laying at the bottom of the suitcase, and my socks matched themselves and even zippered themselves into the pocket."

"Really?" said Harry, reaching into his pants pocket and taking out a set of keys. "You are doing some really advanced magic for someone with no experience."

Abbey smiled proudly as she heard the beeping noise from a nearby vehicle parked on the street, as if the car had been unlocked with a keyless entry device. She looked up and down the row, seeing the quick flash of the yellow lights from a newer model black Toyota Sienna a car and an empty spot down the street from where they were. The hatch started to lift up too, and Harry started making a beeline toward the van.

Bewildered, Abbey stopped. "A mini-van?" she asked.

Harry didn't understand her confusion. "Do vans have a bad reputation in the U.S.?"

"No, I just didn't picture you driving a mini-van." Said Abbey, following him to where he was putting her luggage in the cargo area. "I pictured you in something sportier… and more..." She couldn't choose the exact word she was looking for. She didn't want to use the word manly, but seeing The Chosen One driving around London in a mini-van didn't seem right!

"Well, I have three children I need to cart around the city," said Harry. "A sports car isn't going to do that for us. And it is the same make, model, and year as the one on our street, so if our Disillusionment Charm ever malfunctions, our neighbors will just think it belongs to that family."

"Why do you need to hide your car?" asked Abbey.

"Just get in. We need to get going and meet the others at Diagon Alley. Other side, Abbey. You're in Britain, remember," he added when she started to head to the right side to get in.

The two of them had a laugh as she jogged to the other side. Being a passenger on this side was awkward, but that feeling quickly faded away. The excitement of going to Diagon Alley took over again and carried her to where Harry stopped and parked. Judging by the designer dress shop she remembered passing yesterday while walking to The Leaky Cauldron, they were parked about two blocks from there.

"Do you have all your Muggle money with you? Is there any in your luggage?" asked Harry as he was locking up the car.

"All of my money is with me," she said, giving her purse that was slung across her body a pat. "But I don't have much. I just brought enough for souvenirs and stuff. I don't know if I have enough for a wand."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," said Harry.

Now that money had become a concern, Abbey's excitement for the day ahead in Diagon Alley was starting to fade. She started to worry about what would happen if she couldn't afford the wand that chose her. What if she had to go with a cheaper one that she didn't have a connection with? What if she left without one _at all_? How would she control her magic? But she remembered that she had lodging with the Potters, who most likely wouldn't charge her the same rate as a hotel! With this in mind, her brain and the worries slowed down, just in time to see Ron and Hermione standing outside the pub.

The four of them exchanged hellos before entering The Leaky Cauldron. All of the children were at the Burrow with their grandparents for the day, explained Ron, leaving the adults to introduce Abbey to the Wizarding World in peace. "But Rose made me promise to ask you if you practiced. You know, with the stick she gave you yesterday. Don't feel bad that you didn't-" added Ron.

"But I did," said Abbey. "You can also tell her that I made my bedding fly off the bed."

Ron laughed and Hermione gave her a small smile.

"Tell them what else happened," said Harry, sounding like a proud parent nudging his child to brag about her accomplishments.

"I tried a Summoning Charm, you know, just for fun. Just to see what it sounded like to say it, and the pillow I was referring to did a flip."

"Without a wand?" asked Hermione, surprised.

Abbey nodded.

"Sounds like Abbey is giving you a run for your money, doing magic on her own before she's taught anything," teased Harry.

"I'm not a child anymore, Harry. I'm not jealous of her obvious skill," said Hermione. She did add, in a mutter, "Even though the Summoning Charm took me several tries that I had to concentrate very heavily on."

Ron shot Abbey a grin as they entered the pub, to which they were greeted with unintelligible shouting from upstairs. What sounded like a woman shouting started to get louder as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. All four of them watched as a man with a wood crate came into view. He gave them a small smile, as if he knew them and was embarrassed by the woman's behavior. He turned around and stood on the stair as Hannah Longbottom came into view.

"Are you mental?" she yelled loudly. She had the same blonde hair that was mentioned in the books and depicted in the movie adaptations. "I still can't believe that you _quit_ the Ministry to take a _teaching job! _"

"Yes, Hannah. I've explained this to you _so_ many times already. We _discussed _it," said Neville, remaining calm. "Pomona decided to retire in June, and mentioned me to Minerva as her replacement. I decided to accept her offer _weeks _ago. You knew this."

"I thought it was just a part of your phase! Your "I'm bored with being an Auror" phase! Harry, did Neville really quit?"

Harry slightly jumped, surprised to be dragged into this conversation. "Gave me his notice earlier this month," he said cautiously, hoping none of his words were going to light her fuse.

"And you _let him_?" shrilled Hannah.

"Well," said Harry, sheepishly, "as his boss _and_ his friend, I'm sorry to see him go. The Auror Division isn't going to be the same without him there. We're going to miss his skill and expertise, as well as having a good friend to work with. But as his friend, Hannah, I think the change will be nice for him. He's been doing this job for over fifteen years, and you know as well as I do that he has an interest and a talent for Herbology. He always has. And now that the opportunity to share that talent and interest with others… Well, I'm happy for him and am glad that he took the job."

Hannah's jaw dropped, shocked as if Harry had just spat profanities at her. She turned back to Neville. "And I almost took you back. If you were going to stay at the Ministry where you belong, I wasn't going to move forward with our divorce. But you leave me no choice, Neville. _Go_ stuff all your things in that dreary little faculty cabin in Hogsmeade! I don't want to be associated with a man who gets paid to garden! That's what you are now, Neville: a glorified _gardener_ with the powerless title of professor!" She pursed her lips and stamped her way up the stairs and out of sight.

"Sorry you had to witness that. And Harry, for being dragged in," apologized Neville as he came down the stairs to be on the same level as the others. "And you," he said, looking at Abbey. "You probably have no idea what is going on here."

"She knows more than you think," said Ron. "This is Abbey. We met her yesterday by Westminster Bridge. She's new to the magical community and we are taking her to buy a wand."

"You've been walking around without a wand all these years?" said Neville. "I don't mean to be impolite, but you look _much_ older than eleven."

"Well, she just discovered that she could do magic yesterday," said Harry. "She saw a man try to jump off-"

"It was in the _Prophet_ this morning," said Neville, eyes widening. "The Muggles thought it was an acrobat! You made him bounce off the water?"

Abbey nodded shyly.

"And you've never done magic before?" asked Neville, his interest in Abbey's accomplishment seeming to grow by the minute.

"No," said Abbey. "I thought the magical world was all fictional. Until I met Harry and Ron yesterday, I was just a huge fan of the "Harry Potter" series."

"So, you've been a Muggle all these years. You never showed any signs of magic until yesterday?" asked Neville.

Abbey shook her head. "None at all. I'm twenty-five, and… nothing until yesterday at the river."

"Too bad you took that offer to teach Muggle Studies this term, Hermione. Sounds like she'd be a perfect fit. The Muggle world still fresh in her memory… and the international color she'd bring to the course, being American," said Neville.

"You teach?" asked Abbey, surprised.

"Not normally," said Hermione. "I'm taking a hiatus from the Ministry for this term. Minerva was in a bind, practically begging me. I'm sure you've read about the troubles with Ukraine, Russia, and Crimea lately?"

Abbey nodded.

"The current teacher decided to go to an anthropological study of the Muggles in that region. I'll return to the Magical Law Enforcement Department in January, when she comes back."

Neville readjusted the crate he was holding. In doing so, Abbey was able to see some of the contents. Inside was what appeared to be cactus (but after reading about some of the magical plant life in the books, she knew there was a strong possibility that this plant could burst out of its terra cotta pot and strangle her at any second.) She saw some loose gardening tools, a magic wand, a small cauldron, and inside it, a framed photograph. She had a suspicion that it was of his parents, and not a reminder of his time with Hannah. He had seemed unaffected when Hannah had mentioned not taking him back.

"Well, I better get going before Hannah attracts any other negative attention in her place of business. Abbey," said Neville, holding his hand out. "A pleasure meeting you. Enjoy Diagon Alley and getting your wand. Really no experience like it, trust me."

He turned to Harry and Ron. "I will see you at work tomorrow. And I will see you in a couple of weeks at school, Hermione. Going to be just like old times, right?"

Hermione smiled, shrugging a little. "Well, I hope it isn't _exactly_ like old times." She said.

"Right," said Neville. "Goodbye."

They watched Neville take the handle to a trunk by the doorway to the courtyard and drag it outside. Harry gave him enough time to Disapparate without interruption before saying, "Are you ready, Abbey? Ready to go get your wand?"

She smiled and nodded looking around the trio.

If Abbey had known Hermione more than a day, she would have caught a twinkle in her brown eyes before she turned and started heading to the courtyard. Harry and Ron had noticed the gears working as they followed Abbey, hanging back a bit and giving her inquisitive glances because they weren't sure what was building up in that extraordinary brain of her's.

"Later," whispered Hermione as she broke away from the men to catch up with Abbey.


	5. Chapter 5

When Abbey stepped out the doorway into the tiny courtyard, she entered what looked like an unkempt yard. There was straight path of round stepping stones set into grass that could definitely use some watering and a go with a lawn mower. Various climbing plants were starting to take over the wooden walls that were part of the pub, but came out from the main building to meet up with a brick wall to create an enclosed area. As Abbey followed the trio, she could make out ivy and sweet pea along the right wall, with the left wall being taken over by blackberries and Boston Ivy already starting to change to its fall colors. While the wall plants looked wild and that they weren't cared for very well, the several groups of potted plants set in the corners looked like they were being grown for a "Best Gardener" contest. The pots and other containers looked well-polished and clean; the soil looked moist; the leaves were pruned back and looked healthy. Abbey couldn't recognize many of these plants, so she figured these were magical plants (judging by the one that looked like a Venus Flytrap with fangs and the pot of pansies that seemed to be hissing at her like an aggravated cat) and were Neville's pet projects.

Abbey caught up to the group standing at the back brick wall. She looked toward Ron just in time to see him using his wand to count three bricks up from a typical-looking metal trash can. He counted two across and tapped that brick 3 times. She took a few steps back as quick as she could to make room for the other three because she knew what was going to happen. Starting with the brick that Ron tapped, the bricks around it started to turn sideways to make an archway. The noise was like dozens of rakes on sidewalks, making chills run up Abbey's spine. There was dust and dirt being disturbed as the bricks shifted, as if this entrance to Diagon Alley was hardly used, and started to spread into the air. When Abbey took her forearm away from her eyes and nose when she no longer heard the bricks shifting, she gasped at what she saw.

Abbey felt like she stepped back in time. The four of them stepped onto a narrow, but crowded, cobbled street with small shops on either side. The buildings looked shabby and old, but in a charming way. There were so many new sights to take in as Hermione gently took Abbey's arm to lead her out of the shadow of the now-closed wall to Diagon Alley. She was sure that Hermione sensed her nerves of stepping out and joining the bustling shoppers. She also was still a little apprehensive of joining the magical community she knew nothing about until yesterday, and judging by the smile Hermione gave her as they started to walk, Hermione also knew she was helping Abbey step out of the shadows to officially join witches and wizards.

The four of them walked by shops that Abbey had never seen before. Through the windows and the outdoor displays of the shops, she could see the many cauldrons of Potage's Cauldron Shop. To her right, she saw the produce stand-like display in front of the Apothecary, where there were all kinds of ingredients for sale that she had never seen before: all kinds of insects (and parts), bottles of oils and juices that made Abbey scrunch her face in disgust, and even beautiful plants that Abbey recognized. There were a few empty storefronts as they walked but as soon as they passed one of those, a cheery, lively place of business drew Abbey's eye. When they went around the first bend, she didn't know where to look first, the animals in the window of Eeylops Owl Emporium or the brooms on display at Quality Quidditch Supplies! Flourish and Blott's was a building significantly bigger than the other ones she encountered so far in Diagon Alley and it captured her attention until a brilliantly clean, white building directly ahead caught her attention.

Abbey stopped in her tracks when she saw it and her jaw literally dropped. Gringott's seemed to shine and stuck out like a beautiful and pure sore thumb amongst the cobblestones and adorably shabby shops surrounding it. The bank building towered over the rest, like a stately king over the ordinary villagers. Even from a distance, she could see the gleaming bronze doors, where what looked like a small child wearing red and gold stood. If not in a state of utter amazement, she would have remembered that goblins guarded the bank and started looking around the bank for the child's parent. As Harry led her down the alley, what she thought was a child came into clearer focus and the grotesque face became clearly the face of goblin. He glared at all the witches and wizards walking by him, whether into the bank or past him on their way to other destinations. When the four of them walked past him to go through the bronze doors, Abbey felt that he was giving her an extra strong glare with a deeper squint. She felt his beady and unnaturally black eyes were trying to look through her and it gave her an uneasy feeling. Ron seemed to have sensed that she was extremely uncomfortable around the goblin and gave her a slight push forward.

The second set of doors into Gringott's were silver, but not as shiny as the previous set. Just like in the first book of series, when Hagrid accompanied Harry for his first Gringott's visit, there was the poem of warning:

_Enter stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits of the sin of greed._

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay more dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

After she finished reading, she pushed the heavy door into a large, white marble hall. There was a long counter of marble that matched the floor and walls with about 50 goblins and several humans surrounded by gold and various weights and other odd contraptions. Their shoes echoed across the floor as they walked, creating so much noise that Abbey expected the dozens of workers at the counter to look up. But no one seemed to notice until Abbey heard someone call "Next!" Movement at the far right end caught her eye and she saw a human hand raised up with a finger pointed up.

They walked down to the worker who called them and Abbey noticed the hand came from a man with platinum blonde hair. "It's Malfoy," thought Abbey. She wasn't sure how this was going to go, assuming that the portrayal of Draco Malfoy in the books and the movies was correct. When they were close enough, she could see that he didn't appear too pleased that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were coming up to the counter. She couldn't help to look at the other three to see their reactions, and they seemed to feel the same way about approaching Malfoy (Ron looking a little more disgusted, like he had just discovered he had eaten eel.)

"Potter," said Malfoy, cordial but not cheerful. "Weasley." He nodded politely at Hermione.

"Malfoy," said Harry. The other two politely nodded at him.

"How is Ginny? And the children?" asked Malfoy.

"They are doing well," said Harry. "James starts school in September."

"Really?" asked Draco. "I didn't think he was that old yet."

Harry shrugged. "Time sure passed quickly. How are Astoria and Scorpius?"

"Very well." He replied. "How are Rose and Hugo? Are they still attending Muggle primary school?" he asked Ron and Hermione.

"Not anymore," said Hermione. "We had a few close calls with Hugo nearly revealing his magic the past few months, so we decided to do some home schooling on the weekends. When I'm not teaching class."

"Yes, I heard that you are doing a term at Hogwarts?" asked Malfoy.

"Just as a favor to Minerva," said Hermione. "I enjoy the Ministry, but I think getting back to Hogwarts will be nice."

Draco smiled and nodded. "School was a strong point of yours, so I am confident you will be brilliant and the children will learn a great deal from you."

Hermione smiled, not appearing surprised at the kind words coming from Draco Malfoy. "Thank you, Draco."

He looked around at the four of them. "What can I help you with today?"

"Our friend needs to exchange Muggle currency," said Harry.

Draco looked at Abbey and gave her a small yet genuine smile. He extended his hand to her. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"Abbey Holland," she said, shaking his hand and surprised at strong grip. She had expected him to barely touch her Mudblood hand knowing she was a Muggle-born.

"American, are you?" he asked as she took 100 pounds out of her purse to put on the counter.

"Yes," she said.

He nodded. "I picked up your accent, but wasn't sure. Western Canadians have a similar sound. Which part are you from?"

"Pacific Northwest. Washington state," she said.

Malfoy nodded. "We were in Seattle once. Scorpius wanted to see the Space Needle he saw pictures of while we were in Los Angeles. Astoria likes to take trips there to go shopping. New York is also wonderful as well. We often go on holiday all over New York. We have a vacation home in the Hamptons and visit New York City for Fashion Week and other events. The States is a very beautiful place."

Abbey smiled and nodded as he measured, counted, and sorted her money as he talked. She had expected his reception of her to be less polite, knowing her blood wasn't pure, like his. She had imagined him treating her like he had treated Hermione in the stories, but he seemed friendly enough. He didn't seem to have (or at least show) any hatred or prejudice toward her for being a Muggle Born. Although knowing his history regarding his opinions of Muggle Borns, she chose to keep the fact that she just found out the day prior that she was magic between her, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and their families.

Draco reached into a drawer and pulled out a maroon velvet drawstring bag about the size of a 6 inch square and started putting coins inside. "Here are 20 galleons, 4 sickles, and 24 knuts for your 100 Muggle Pounds." He pulled the sack closed and started writing a receipt on golden yellow parchment with the Gringott's seal at the top.

"Listen," Abbey heard Harry addressing Ron and Hermione. "I need to go to my vault, so why don't you take Abbey to Ollivander's and I'll meet up with you there?"

Ron nodded as Abbey turned to take the receipt from Draco.

"Do you need to go to your vault, Potter? Bryed !" he called.

A goblin with an exceptionally long nose came up from the rows of shelves behind the counter. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Please take Mr. Potter to his vault. I believe he has a key."

Harry nodded. "I will see you at Ollivander's after I'm done here, all right Abbey?"

"Okay," said Abbey.

"Was a pleasure meeting you, Abbey," said Draco.

"You too," said Abbey.

As Harry walked away with the goblin, Abbey followed Ron and Hermione out of the bank as she put the pouch clanging with her magical coins in her purse. She was pleased with the positive meeting with Draco Malfoy, but even happier now that she was clear of the goblins. They gave her an uneasy feeling, with their deep, penetrative glares as if they were staring into your eyes to look at your soul. When they exited the bronze doors back into the alley, Ron and Hermione guided her to the right and they continued walking on the cobblestones that echoed the flops of Abbey's sandals in a higher pitch than the concrete she usually walked on.

"Malfoy seemed quite… nice," said Abbey as they walked past the Magical Menagerie with their cats, ferrets, toads, frogs, and what looked like trout-sized goldfish on display in the window.

"The war changed him," said Hermione in a hushed tone. "He grew up being taught that all the violence, abuse, and prejudiced opinions of his family and the Death Eaters were right. When he got older and able to make his own choices, he started to see the darker side to it all. The Second War showed him that he had been following the wrong path for 18 years."

"You know he did it so he and his family wouldn't get the same fate as the other Death Eaters?" said Ron, condescending. "Deep down, he is still one of them."

Hermione gave her husband a glaring look. "Now that's not fair," she said. "He has been nothing but considerate and even friendly to us for over 15 years. I hear he hardly visits his parents, other than for letting Scorpius visit his grandparents. His family is damaged and he is trying to do right by the Wizarding Community now."

Ron heaved a sigh, obviously not agreeing with his wife but not wanting to argue about his opinions regarding the Malfoys in the middle of Diagon Alley.

They continued walking past a few more shops on their way to Ollivander's. There was Gambol and Japes a small joke shop that didn't seem that busy, judging by only 2 wizards in the shop that Abbey saw as she walked past the windows. The next shop was a second-hand robe shop, with animated mannequins in the large picture window smiling, waving, and making eye contact with the trio as they walked past. The female one was modeling an olive green robe with cream colored lace around the cuffs and the neckline. The male mannequin was wearing a royal blue set that included a matching hat, with gold buttons that looked like cufflinks on the sleeves and a matching gold stripe along the brim of the hat. As they approached the next shop, Abbey could see vines of ivy creeping up the walls and was surprised to discover that it was a small grocery store that carried food products that witches and wizards usually had to go out into the Muggle stores to buy.

In the next shop, Abbey could see what looked like red and silver sparklers in the windows, even before she got close enough to see what this shop was. She saw these mannequins –Abbey was glad these ones didn't move- holding wands. Each of the faces was pointed up, watching the sparks raining down on them. Abbey backed up and looked at the sign above the door and the windows. Large, shiny gold letters read "OLLIVANDERS: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." Even in her amazement, Abbey noticed the clean quality of the wood used to build the store front.

"It's beautiful," she whispered in amazement.

"Ollivander's son renovated after the war when he took the shop over," said Ron. "It didn't used to be so nice. Christopher really updated it."

Abbey took a deep breath and walked toward the door, nervously turning the handle and pushing it open. A bell tinkered throughout the shop, even though there was no bell or anything that would make that clinking sound on the door. She looked around the tiny shop, with the high walls covered with shelves filled with neatly stacked wand boxes. What looked like a library ladder zoomed out of the back with an old man hanging on and stopped along the shelf behind the wooden counter with the cash register and a tidy display of pamphlets.

The old man gingerly climbed down and straightened his plain black robes as he walked from behind the counter. He had untidy gray hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders, reminding Abbey of photographs she had seen of Albert Einstein. He looked at them over his half-moon glasses perched on the tip of his nose with his small, beady dark brown eyes. "Good afternoon," he said coolly. "Who is here for a new wand?"

Abbey lifted her hand, as if she were in school and wasn't sure of the answer to her teacher's question, but was going to give it a try.

"What were the components to your old wand?" asked Christopher Ollivander

"Um… I haven't… I haven't had a wand before," she said quietly.

The shop owner gave her an unbelieving stare, as if he were judging her. "All right then. We'll have to start from scratch. Which is your wand arm?"

"Um… I write with my right hand."

He exasperatingly sighed as he took her right hand to pull her arm out. She held it still as he reached into his pocket and took out a dingy, white tape measure and flicked it to unroll it. When he let go, it started measuring her arm on its own accord. First it measured her shoulder to middle finger, her wrist to elbow, and shoulder to floor. Then it left her arm to measure the distance between her knee and her underarm, squeezed her forehead quite uncomfortable as it measured the circumference of her head, and tickled her nose when it measured the distance between her nostrils. Abbey scrunched her face in confusion and looked at Mr. Ollivander, who just watched and mentally took note of the measurements. Without a word, he turned around and started walking around the shop, taking down boxes and examining the labels. He put most of them back after shaking his head and after about 30 times of watching this, came back to the group with 6 boxes.

Mr. Ollivander opened the first box and took out a significantly long wand. "Cypress, 14 inches, Dragon Heartstring. Rigid," he said, holding it out to her.

Abbey took it, not knowing what would happen. She pointed it toward the front door of the shop and without saying or doing anything else, broke out the pane of glass, making passerby outside and everyone inside the shop jump.

Wide-eyed and mouth hanging open, Abbey gingerly and carefully gave the wand back to Ollivander. "Sorry," she whispered.

He didn't say anything or look very pleased as he waved his own wand to put the pieces of glass back into the door. They zoomed back into place as quickly as they were shattered out.

"That's obviously not your wand," said Ron with a smirk to Hermione and Ollivander. Both gave him looked back at him, not amused.

"Hazel, 11 ½ inches, unicorn hair. Hard." Said Ollivander.

This time, Abbey was careful not to point the wand at the door or windows. Instead she pointed it at the floor and gave it a flick. She set fire to the rug without any sparks or anything coming out of the wand.

As if this was an everyday occurrence, Ollivander causually waved his wand and using the Augamenti charm, used a fountain of water to put out the fire. A second wave restored the carpet to its orginal condition. Ron kept any snarky comments to himself this time.

This time, he traded Abbey for a 10 ¾ inch ash and phoenix feather wand. She waved it, not aiming for anything in particular this time. The magic hit the library ladder this time, and it went zooming unnaturally and blurred as it went in circles on the track. Ollivander stopped it with a wave of his own wand and took the ash wand from Abbey.

"Those seem too intense for your nature. Try this 12 ¾ inch Dogwood and Phoenix feather. This has a more flexible personality than the others."

Abbey again waved this one without any target and caused the register's drawer to pop open.

"That's better. At least I wasn't pelted with my own coins like I was yesterday. But it still isn't right. Give it here."

Starting to feel a little discouraged, Abbey took the 10 inch Ebony and Unicorn hair wand. This was "quite flexible", according to Ollivander, thinking she needed a wand that was even less forceful than the others. She looked around the room, looking for something to aim for. Afraid of breaking glass or setting fire again, she pointed the wand at a shelf and hoped for the best. This time, a bouquet of pink roses sprang out of the end, like in cheesy magic shows she had seen as a child.

Ron gave her a slight round of applause and Hermione smiled approvingly. Poor Mr. Ollivander just looked grateful she didn't destroy the shop.

"Better, but not quite a faithful wand," he said. "Try this one. Same dimensions as this one, but I wonder if Cypress would be better for you."

Abbey took an immediate liking to the lighter color of this wood. The handle was smoother than the others and was crafted with a round knob at the end. As soon as she held this kind of Cypress wand, her fingertips started to tingle. A warmth joined the tingling as the sensation moved up her arm. This hadn't happened with any of the other wands and Ollivander seemed to sense what was going on.

"Go on, wave it. Aim at that fern in the corner," he said.

She did as she was told and cerulean-blue sparks shot out and landed on the plant. The leaves started to sparkle, like blue glitter had been liberally sprinkled on the fern. Then, as if this magic hadn't been beautiful enough, a ray of light appeared in thin air and landed on the plant, making it sparkle even more.

"I did that?" asked Abbey, looking around at everyone.

Ron and Hermione smiled at her nodding.

"I was sure a flexible Cypress was the right one," said Mr. Ollivander, taking the wand and putting it back in the box to wrap in brown paper. "10 Galleons, please."

Abbey counted out 10 gold coins from the velvet pouch Malfoy had given her at Gringott's. As she tucked her new wand under her arm, she took pamphlets discussing length statistics and wood and core meanings. On her way out, she thanked Christopher Ollivander and apologized for the damage she caused.

When they were out on the sidewalk, Abbey saw Harry coming up the way with what looked like a birdcage. But when he caught up to them, he didn't say anything about it. "Did you all hear about that window shattering a little while ago? Everyone on the other end of the alley is talking about it."

While Abbey shifted her eyes nervously and most likely looked guilty, Ron laughed. "Heard it, saw it…" said Ron.

"Apparently, a rigid wand and Abbey don't get on," said Hermione. "She broke out the door window at Ollivander's."

Harry laughed. "Don't worry about that. I've heard a few kids have actually exploded things and nearly injured Christopher. Breaking out a window is tame."

Abbey smiled, feeling a little relieved and looked at the cage, which had a Great Horned Owl inside.

"You said you were in London for a birthday trip, right Abbey?" said Harry.

She nodded.

"Well, Happy Birthday," he said, holding the cage out to her.

"For me?" she said, taking the handle to the cage and holding it up so she could be face to face with the owl. "My own owl?"

"Yeah. Nearly every witch and wizard has one for sending mail. And they make good pets as well. I want you to fit in and be able to write us when you go back home." He said, clearly happy at Abbey's reaction.

She put the cage down and hugged Harry. "Just like Hagrid did for you when he first brought you to Diagon Alley."

It was apparent on Harry's face that the thought hadn't occurred to him that he just did for Abbey what Hagrid had done for him. "I guess so," he said, smiling. "I noticed on my way down here that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes didn't look very busy and thought you might want to go see it. It is a joke shop with a lot of interesting-"

He stopped when he saw Abbey look as excited about going to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes as she was about getting her very own owl. "You know what that is?"

"Yeah!" said Abbey. "It was in the books and the movies and I loved it! You mean I get to go see it in person?"

"If you want to," said Harry. "And I bet George would give you a discount, since you're with us."

"Let's go!" said Abbey, picking up the owl cage and starting to walk down the alley.

From a considerable distance, she could see a giant caricature of a red haired man's head lifting and putting back down a black magician's hat with a white rabbit perched on top of the head, only to disappear for a cycle and return for the next. It was just like in the movie. As they walked, Harry saying that George would give her a discount kept replaying in her head, reminding her that Fred was gone and that she wouldn't be able to meet the set of twins. She tried not to let the disappointment and sadness show and just kept walking down the alley until they reached the front door.

The double doors had 8 panes of glass each, with a bright orange frame. When inside, the store was chock full of shelves, displays of their latest products, and customers wandering around in various levels of stupor after testing some products for themselves. She was a little rattled when she saw a group of preteens holding bright red cloths to their noses, obviously stemming a blood flow. They laughed when they popped something in their mouths and started to laugh, walking away from the bin they were surrounding. When Abbey saw it said "Nosebleed Nougats", she realized what was going on and didn't feel compelled to alert someone of the trouble. Further on through the maze of displays and people, she saw a few teenage boys vomiting into lime green buckets marked "FOR SAMPLES ONLY". When they stopped for a few seconds, they stuffed something in their mouths and chewed it, which resulted in smiles.

"We _need_ these for History of Magic next term!" said one of the boys, putting his bucket into a large wooden crate that magically rid the buckets of the contents. "Let's go pay for them. I still need broomstick polish."

Abbey realized they were the Puking Pastilles in the books when she heard when she someone call Ron's name. She turned and saw a man who resembled Ron wave him over. As the group walked over, she saw the man in a striped suit jacket and black casual-style pants. The jacket was different shades of magenta with black lapels. Remembering from the books that the uniform for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was magenta robes, Abbey quickly figured out this was George Weasley.

The slightly aged George with a hairline beginning to recede shook hands with his brother and brother-in-law, along with cheek kisses for his sister-in-law. When he saw Abbey, he stopped and smirked at her. "Another Weasley? Aren't there enough of us?"

"A friend of ours. Met yesterday. Name's Abbey," said Ron.

"Nice to meet you, Abbey. Name's George." said George, holding his hand out.

"You too," said Abbey, shaking his hand.

He showed surprise at her accent. "American." He said. "We don't get many of you over here in Diagon Alley. What brings you?"

"Vacation," she said. "Well, I came to London on vacation. I came to Diagon Alley for a wand and tour."

"So, what dark magic did you do to ruin your last one?" he asked with a joking smirk.

"No, I didn't have one before now," said Abbey.

"Do they do things different over there? No wands?"

"No, I just found out I was magical. I stopped that man from jumping off Westminster Bridge yesterday. I imagined him landing on a trampoline when I saw he was about to jump and he bounced off the water," said Abbey.

"You were in the _Prophet_ –that's our newspaper- this morning," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a rolled up newspaper. He opened it up to an inside page, where there was a very small article on the bottom right corner. Abbey took the paper to read:

_MYSTERY WITCH/WIZARD AT WESTMINSTER_

_Yesterday afternoon about 2 o'clock, there were several_

_reports to Muggle police regarding a man around age 40_

_appearing to be considering jumping off Westminster Bridge_

_ as an act of suicide. However, the man bounced off the water_

_when he jumped. The incident was assumed to be an acrobatic stunt_

_(acrobatics being a Muggle form of aerial stunts involving balance, ability,_

_and motor coordination) and therefore brushed off by most of the_

_general public. The Ministry of Magic sent Obliviators out to erase_

_the memories of a few Muggles who insisted that they "saw magic." _

_Although this act of magic is a violation of the Statute of Secrecy, the_

_Ministry is not concerned and the location of the witch or wizard who _

_performed the spell among a high concentration of Muggles is at _

_lowest priority, due to the widespread belief among them that_

_this was just a "stunt." _

Abbey folded the paper back up and handed it George. "Wow," she said. "I didn't think that would have been published."

"The paper publishes most stories where our world is almost exposed to the Muggles. Even though it has been centuries since the Salem Trials, you'd think that American magical folk would be more careful about exposing themselves."

"I wouldn't know," said Abbey.

George looked at her like she had sprouted a second head. "You Americans are stranger than we thought," he said. "You appear not to know _anything_ about the magical community."

Before Abbey could explain herself, Ron chimed in.

"Leave her alone, George. Saving that man was the first piece of magic she's ever done."

George's face contorted again, as if she had sprouted another head. "How old _are_ you?"

"It is normally impolite in the U.S. to ask a woman her age, but since you are George Weasley, I'm twenty five."

"And no magic until yesterday?"

"None."

"None of this probably makes any sense to you, does it?"

"Our world?" said Harry. "She knows a lot more than you think. She's a big fan of Rita's books and movies."

George laughed, but was interrupted by loud explosion from another part of the store.

While everyone was wildly looking around finding the source, Abbey saw a huge plume of black smoke and a man emerging. As he approached the group, she could see he was wearing a magenta lab coat and his face was covered in ash and soot. When he stood next to George, she could read a plastic badge with heat-curled edges. Against a watermark "WWW", she read "Seamus Finnigan" and in smaller letters underneath, read "Pyrotechnics Head."

"The test went splendidly, sir," said Seamus quietly to George.

"Excellent," said George.

Seamus started acknowledging his school friends, who didn't seem too bothered by his rumpled appearance. "Harry… Ron… Hermione…"

The 3 of them gave varied responses of greeting.

"Aaaaand…" he said when he saw Abbey.

"Abbey," she said, introducing herself.

"Aaaaaa-bey…" he said, in the same tone he greeted the other three.

After a few awkward seconds, the proverbial light bulb that signified an idea came on over George's head. "Seamus, I want you to repeat the test, but add firecrackers that are attracted to people wearing green. Have them form into ghostly, smokey spiders that snap at those people before they explode."

Seamus' response was a mix of maniacal excitement and admiration of his boss' idea. He gave polite nods of farewell to the other four in the group and turned around to walk away. Abbey loved what was on the back of his lab coat. Embroidered in navy blue letters were:

WEASLEY'S WIZARD WHEEZES

Pyrotechnics Department

Boom? Boom!

George noticed Abbey's glee at Seamus' lab coat. "Do you like our slogan?"

"Yes! That was one of the best lines in the movie!"

"Yes, Rita actually forgot to include that line in the books after she interviewed McGonagall, Seamus, and Neville. But she made sure that amazing piece of dialogue was included in the movie. Seamus played an "explosive" part in the Battle of Hogwarts and that led him to his time and place with Wheezes. If it wasn't for McGonagall's encouragement, he might never have found his true calling."

Abbey smiled as her attention was suddenly caught by the large display to their right. Her curiosity took over and she started examining the bottles and jars.

"Ah yes, our WonderWitch line," said George.

A small, pink bottle caught Abbey's eye and she picked it up to read the label. "Ten Second Pimple Vanisher?"

"Yep. Everything the label promises. We –my late twin brother Fred and I- incorporated a vanishing serum in a lotion recipe our mother uses. We started developing the formula when Ginny was in her 3rd year at Hogwarts and started struggling with acne. Took a few years to get the recipe just right, but this is one of our most popular products in the WonderWitch line."

"Does it work? Is it safe?" asked Abbey, still plagued by acne flare ups, even in her twenties.

George gave her an offended look that was very convincing, but was obviously his humor coming through when Abbey saw Ron smile. "We made this with our sister in mind! Of course it is safe and works!"

"Okay, then," said Abbey. "How much?"

"This one is on me. A "welcome to the wizarding world" gift, I suppose." Said George, smiling at her.

"I can't," she said. "This is your business, your livelihood."

"I can spare the profit I'd make on one bottle of Pimple Vanisher, thank you," he said. "Have a look around."

Abbey was again quickly drawn to a flowery, pink and purple display a few yards away. The plastic baskets were shaped like giant flowers and inside were heart-shaped bottles with plastic faux-diamond stoppers. She picked out a red one and read the label. "Love potions?" she asked.

"Ah, yes," said George. "And they work quite well for being a cheap, novelty item. But, Miss Abbey, you strike me as one of my most discerning of customers." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a lilac-colored test tube with a cork stopper in the end. "Try this," he said, unstopping it.

From the first whiff, Abbey began to feel lightheaded. But she just _had _to take another sniff. As she breathed in, she felt any cares and burdens lifting off of her. Her brain started to become focused enough to tell the different smells apart. "Blown out candles," she said breathlessly. "And the air after a summer rainshower. Ah… my favorite plum and freesia perfume." She started leaning forward as George pulled the vial away from her, seeing that she had enough.

As soon as George replaced the cork, Abbey snapped back to reality. "Was that… Amortentia?" she said, feeling lucky that she got to smell such an amazing potion.

"The exact potion." Said George. "Listen, I'm glad you all came today. I was meaning to send an owl to Ron tonight, but I can just talk to him here. Feel free to look around, Abbey, and anything that tickles that American fancy of yours is on me. It was nice meeting you."

"You as well," said Abbey.

While George walked away with his younger brother, Abbey put her wand and owl down to put the Pimple Vanisher in her purse. As she held the owl cage at face level, she realized all the amazing events that happened today. She did magic that a beginner usually couldn't do; she got her very own magic wand; she now had a pet/mailer owl; and she was soon going to be a guest in Harry Potter's own home. These were things only the most imaginative and wishful Potterheads could dream of. And she, ordinary and simple Abbey Holland, just did all this in less than a day. At that moment, she felt like the luckiest girl ever.


End file.
